Door-operating mechanism



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 W. W. ROBINSON DOOR GPERATING MECHANISM Filed, Jan. 25. 1925 l u row Dec. 21 9 1926.

$0 5 w. w o 8 f E M W De'c. 21 1926.

W. W. ROBINSON DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Jan. 23v 1925 Patented Dec, 21, 1926.

UNITED STATES WALTEE W. ROBINSON, OF ANNISTON, ALABAMA.

DOOR-OPERATING MECHANISM.

A Application filcd January 23, was. Serial No. 4,166.

My invention relates to door operating mechanisms. Y

The primary object of my invention is to provide a mechanism adapted to open and close garage doors, and other doors of a similar nature, characterized by an automatic operation of said mechanismand by other features pertinent thereto, hereinafter described.

A further object isto provide a-motor driven mechanism of the character described whose operation is manually started by a suitable agency positioned close to, or remote from, said doors, and is automatically stopped when said doors have reached a fully opened or a fully closed posltlon, means being provided to automatically place said motor ina condition to reverse the movement of said doors when the latter have reached either of said 'ositions.

Aanotor 18 is mounted in said cradle and said motor is preferably an induction motor of the repulsion start type, due to its capacity for starting under full load.

The shaft 19 of said motor is coupled to a worm shaft 20, mounted in suitable bear- "ings in the arms and 16. The thrust of 'links 25--25 is pivotally connected thereto,

the other end of each of said links being pivotally mounted in a bracket 26, secured to These and further ob ects of my inventiofi each of the doors 13-13. Therefore, as the shaft is rotated by the motor 18, the nut will be set forth in the following specifications, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and the novel means b which said means are eifectuated will be de nitely pointed out in the claims.

.In the drawings Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a garage showing my improved mechanism ap lied thereto. In this view, the links operatively connecting the doors to the motor are only partially shown for the sake of clearness.

Fig. 2 is a section along .the hue 22 in Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows. In Figs. 1 and 2, the electrical circuits have been omitted for the sake of clearness.

Fig. 3 is a diagram of the electrical con-#- nections used with my improved mechanism. Fig. 4 is a section along the. line 4-4 in Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, and showing the nut which s adapted to traverse the worm shaft hereinafter described. Inthe drawings 10, 11, 12 and 6t, represent, respectively, the floor, ceiling, back door and side wall of a garage, or other similar inclosure, and

1313 represents the doors, closing the opening thereto.

A bracket 14 is secured to the coding 11 in any approved manner and said bracket is provided, at the end adjacent the doors 1 3, with a depending arm 15 and at the opposite end with a depending arm 16, which has r integrally formed therewith the cradle 17.

22 will traverse saidshaft and operating through the links 25 will move the doors 13 outwardly when said nut moves toward the left and inwardly when said nut moves toward the right, as viewed in Fig. 1.

-A spring 27 is secured at one end to the nut 22 and at the opposite end to the handle 28 of a reversing switch 29, which is secured to the bracket 14 and positioned midway between the arms 15 am hereinafter explained.

The end terminals 30 of the switch 29 are electrically connected by the leads 31-31 to the starting winding (not shown) of the motor 18 and the intermediate terminals 3232 are electrically connected by the leads 16, for a purpose ,3333 to the running winding (not shown) of said motor. One of the terminals 32 is also-connected through the lead 34 to the armature 35 which is pivoted on the pintle 36, and insulated therefrom in any approved manner. Said armature is normally held in the position shown in Fig. 3 by the interaction' of the spring 37 and the stop 38. A stop 39 limits'the downward movement of the armature 35 when moved'as hereinafter described.

Said armature is further provided, adjacent its free end, with a contact 40 which is adapted to be immersed in the mercur cup 41, when said armature is moved ownwardly, as viewed in Fig. 3. The mercury cup 41 has electrical connection, by means of the lead 42, with a coil 43 and said coil is connected to a terminal 45 through a lead 44. The other of said terminals 32 is connected to a terminal 47, by means of a lead 46, and any. suitable electromotive force is to be impressed on the terminals 45 and 47, in order to energize the motor 18. The coil 43 is provided in order to take advantage of the overload current which is produced in the motor circuit, ina manner hereinafter described, and may therefore be regarded as an overload coil.

The armature 35 is also provided with a lug 48," positioned between the contact 40 and the pintle 36, said lug being adapted to engage with a hooked finger 49 which is pivotall mounted on the pintle 50 and insulate therefrom in any approved manner. Said finger is normally held in the position shown in Fig. 3 by the nteraction of a sprin 51 and a sto 52. It should be noted that t e coil 43 an the finger 49 comprise, for all essential purposes, an overload circuit breaker, as will become more apparent hereinafter.

ed to coact with the armature 35 in the manner of a relay, a source of electrical ener 'y 53, which may be a battery, as shown, a bell ringing transformer, orthe like, and two switches, 54 and 55, respectively, which are arranged in parallel with said-coil andsaid energy source.

It is contemplated that the switch 54 be placed witliout and the switch 55 within the garage. The switch 54 is preferably placed in the roadway and comprises a base 56 which is submerged flush with the surface 0 said roadway and is provided with a depression 58, in which rests a spring steel cap 59, having a convex surface when viewed from above. 'Only -the edge of said cap bears on the bottom of the depression 58, and, therefore, when a suitable load is impressed on said ca the crest of the latter will move vertical y, thus operating as an ordin push button. The cap 59 is provided wit a contact 60, insulated therefrom, which is adapted to make an electrical connection between the contacts 61-61. said contacts being positioned in a suitable opening in the base 56. The contacts 61 are connected to the coil 65 and-the battery 53 by the leads 62 and 63, respectively. The switch 55 is of the ordinary ppsh button type, or itmay be an ordinary ife switch, and is connected to said coil and said battery by the leads 66 and 67, respectively. a

The 0 ration of my improved mechanism is as fol ows:-

Assuming that a motor vehicle is approaching the garage, then in order to effect an opening of the doors 13, it is only necessary to place one of the wheels of said vehicleon the cap 59, thereby depressin the same and completing the circuit throng the battery 53 andqthe 'coil 65. Said coil being energized, the armature 35 will be attracted thereto and the contact 40 will be immersed in the mercury bath 41, thereby completing the motor circuit, it being considered that there is an electromotive force always present at the terminals 45 and 47. The armature35, inits downward movement, engages with the hooked finger 49 by meansof the lug 48 and is thereby prevented from returning .to its normal position under the action of the spring 37r-=By this construction, I avoid the necessity of maintaining the cap 59 in a depressed position during the entire opening of the doors, and in addition reduce the drain on the battery 53.

'The motor circuit having been closed, the motor 18 be ins to rotate and-when it attains asuita 'le speed, the starting winding thereof iscut out inany approved manner, as by' suitable elements-"within said motor.

operable by centrifugal force. The rotation of the motor 18 moves the nut 22 along the shaft thereby, through the links -25,

movin the doors 13--13'outwardly.

As t e nut 22 traverses the shaft-20, it is obvious that the switch 29 will be moved toa position which is the reverse-of that shown I in Fig. 1 and that a gradually increasing tension will be produced in the spring 27 as said nut approaches the end of said shaft adjacent the opening to the garage, resulting in anadditional load on the motor 18 and cansing the flowof an overload current in the motor circuit. This" current flow energizes the coil 43sutficiently to attract the finger 49, thus releasing the lug 48 from engagementtherewith, and the spring 37 will then raisev the armature and lift the contact from the mercury cup 41, breaking the motor circuit. The strength of the spring 27 is'so adjusted and the coil 43 is so arranged that the breaking of thecircuit, above referred to, occurs when the doors have reached a fully opened position, or for a reverse operation,

a fully closed position. Since the end terminals of the switch 29 are connected to the starting winding of the-motor 18, the reversing of said switch by the spring 27 provides a. means for reversing the direction of rotation of said motor when the switch is a closed, it being understood that this position in readiness for reversing obtains by the time the doors 'are fully opened, or fully closed if the operation has been the reverse of that described above, the action being entirely automatic. The reversing of the switch .29 does not affect the operation of the motor during the movement of the nut22. as the startin winding of the motor is not included in t motor circuit during this essary the dismounting of the driver of avehicle in order to open the doors, as described above, and is further characterized by a marked simplicity'of operation and the entire absence of complicated switches. While I have shown one preferred form of my improved door operating mechanism, it

is to be understood that this is for urposes of illustration only and in no wise lntended to limit the scope thereof, for many changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit thereof.

I claim 1. A door operating mechanism comprising in combination, a door, a motor, means operatively connecting said door and motor, means for energizing said motor, means adapted to cause an overload current flow in the motor circuit as said door approaches a fully opened and a fully closed position, and means adapted to break said circuit when the strength of said current attains a predetermined value, the cessation of said current occurring when said door reaches either of said positions.

2. A door operating mechanism comprising in combination, a door, a motor, means operatively connecting said door and motor, means for energizing said motor, means adapted to cause an overload current flow in the motor circuit as said door approaches a fully opened and a fully closed position,

means adapted to break said circuit when the strength of said current attains a predetermined value, and means for placin said .motor in readiness to reverse when sai door has been moved to either of said positions.

3. A door operating mechanism comprising in combination, a door, an electric circuit having amotor, a worm shaft driven by said motor, a nut adapted to traverse said shaft and operatively connected to said door, a spring anchored at one end and at its opposite end secured to said nut, an overload circuit breaker in said circuit adapted to opterate when said nut, in traversing said sha has exerted a predetermined tension on said spring, thereby causing an overload current flow in said circuit, said breaker belng ad" justed to function when said door is in a fully opened and a fully closed position.

4. A door operatin mechanism compr sing in combination, a door, an electric cir- -cuit having a motor and a reversing switch,

a worm shaft driven by said motor, said switch being positioned intermediate of the ends of said shaft, a nut adapted to traverse said shaft and operatively connected to said breaker for de-ener izin door, a spring secured at one end to said switch and at its opposite end to said nut, the traverse of said nut along said shaft acting to reverse said switch, and an overload circuit breaker in said circuit adapted to operate when said nut, in traversing said shaft, has exerted a predetermined tension on said spring, thereby causing an overload current flow in said circuit, said breaker be ing adjusted to function when sa d door is in a full opened and a full closed position.

5. A oor operating mec anism comprising in combination, a door, an electric circuit havlng a motor and switch, means operatively connecting said door and motor, an independent circuit controlling said switch for energizing said motor, means ada ted to cause an overload current flow insai motor circuit as said door approaches a fully opened and a fully closed position, and means adapted to break said circuit when the strength of said current attains a predetermined value.

6. A door operating mechanism comprising in combination, a door, an electric circuit having a motor and a reversing switch, a worm shaft driven by said motor, a nut adapted to traverse said-shaft and operatively connected to said door, a spring socured at one end to said switch and at its opposite end to said nut, whereby said nut operates said switch to place said motor in readiness to reverse when said door has been 4 moved to a fully opened and a full closed position, and means for automatical y stopping said motor when said door reaches either of said positions.

7. A door operating mechanism comprising in combination, a door, an electric circuit having a motor, an' overload circuit breaker and a switch, means operatively connecting said door and motor, means for energizing said motor by controlling said switch comprising an electric circuit independent of the motor circuit, and means for no causing an overload current flow in said motor circuit to operate said circuit breaker for de-energizing said motor, said flow bein induced by a load additional to that exerted by said door and ada ted to operate when 113 said door reaches a ful opened and a fully closed position.

8. A door operatingmechanism comprising in combination, a door, an electric circuit having a motor, an overload circuit breaker and a switch, means operatively connecting said door and motor, means for energizing said motor by controlling said switch comprising a normally open electric circuit independent of the motor circuit, means for closing said electric circuit and means for causing an overload current flow in said motor circuit to operate said circuit said motor, said flow being induced y a oad additional to that exerted by said door and adapted to operate when said door reaches a fully opened means adapted to break said circuit when the strength of said current attains a predetermined value. c I

10. A door operating mechanism comprising in combination, a door, a motor, means operativelyconnecting said door and motor, meansfor energizing said motor, means adapted to cause an overload current flow in the motor circuit, and means adapted to break said circuit when the strength of said current attains a predetermined value.

1 1. A door operating mechanism comprising in combination, a door, a motor, means o'perati'vely connecting said door and motor,

means for energizing said motor, means adapted to cause an overload current flow in the motor circuit as said door approaches a fully opened and a fully closed position, means adapted to break said circuit when the strength of said current attains a predetermined value, the cessation of said current occurring when said door reaches either of said positions, and means for placin said motor in readiness to reverse when sai door has been moved to either of said positions.

12. A door operating mechanism comprising in combination, a door, an electric circult having a motor, an overload circuit breaker and a switch, means operatively connecting'said door and motor, means for energizing .said motor by controlling said switch comprising an electric circuit independent of the motor circuit, and means for causing an overload current'fiow in said motor circuit to operate said circuit breaker for dc-energizing said motor, said flow being induced by the operation of a load additional to that exerted by said door.

13. A door operating mechanism comprising in combination, a door, an electric circult having a motor and switch, means operatively connecting said doorand motor, an independent circuit controlling said switch for energizing said motor, means adapted to cause an overload current'flow in said mot-or circuit, and means adapted to break said motor circuit when the strength of said current attains a predeterminedv means adapted to break said motorcircuit' when the strength of said currentattains a predetermined value, the cessation of said current occurring when said door reaches either ofsaid positions.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

' WALTER W. ROBINSON. 

